Charlaine Harris to Release Final Sookie Stackhouse Novel

Dead Ever After. Those epic and eternal words are the fitting title of the thirteenth and final Sookie Stackhouse novel — the culmination of The Southern Vampire Mysteries — set to hit bookstores on May 7.

It’s the end of an era for fans of the novels, while onscreen, True Blood marches on. (We’re eagerly awaiting Season 6!)

On ending the book series: “I’ve sure enjoyed living in Bon Temps and seeing Sookie so much, but I just came to realize that I’d come to the end of what I’d wanted to say about her.”

On the book series’ ending: “In the end, I hope people won’t be disappointed in what I’ve given them because, gosh, I worked so hard on it. I went over it so many times trying to make sure I was doing it right.”

On fan feedback: “This is the universe I’m the queen of. The readers can get pretty angry and tell me I’m writing the characters wrong. I hardly see how that could be possible. They’re my characters!”

On True Blood: “Of course they have to compress and delete some things because the books are so long. I really like that because I get to see what I’ve read and enjoyed. But at the same time, True Blood gives you the same characters in a completely new environment.”

Charlaine teases that she and author Christopher Golden have been working on a graphic novel, the first volume of which will be released in October.